This Wasteland
by AK74FU2
Summary: "Look, kid. I know you fight for righteous reasons, but our here, those reasons will only get you killed. Trust me when I say this, there is no law out here, the only justice you can get is by seeking it out yourself. It's a kill or be killed world out here. I'd give anything to live in this Remnant you speak so highly of." This is a sort of test for myself, see how far I can get.
1. Chapter 1

**This Wasteland**

 **Chapter 1 Redone**

The Great War ended when the world itself ended. Nuclear weapons devasted every corner of the globe. Nathan and his family of two others, had been lucky with a place in the very place where he had lost them both.

One was murdered before his very eyes, and the other was taken to a place unknown. Forced back into cryo-sleep, he slumbered for another 60 years. When he awoke, he sought vengeance, he swore to get his son back. Unknowning of the fact that it had been a marginal leap in time since last he saw the moment of his loss.

From there he journeyed... across the wasteland that was once his home. All he saw was death. His journey led him to the Minutemen, the Brotherhood of Steel, the Railroad... other small time factions that made themselves known in their own way.

This loss of his made him revert to his other way of life, the life of a soldier. The Brotherhood was the closest thing he could find that was considered military.

He helped Paladin Danse find what he and his team needed, he helped Elder Maxson with his goal in defeating this "Institute". He fought for the Brotherhood until he had found his wife's murderer. With the help of the detective that went by the name of Nick Valentine, someone who he now considered family.

Kellogg explained what happened to his son, he was vague but it gave him an idea that his son was not as young as he once was. Kellogg refused to reveal anymore... so Nathan killed him. With his death, Nathan had found a way to get into the Institute.

As time went by, Nathan had accumulated the materials needed to create what the schematics displayed. Said schematics were gifted to him by a runaway Institute scientist who wanted nothing more than to be human again.

The teleporter was finished, the trip was a one way ticket to getting into the Institute. His search had ended the moment the leader of the Institute had revealed himself to be his very own son.

Refusing to believe it, he left the Institute, and returned to the Brotherhood. The information he had obtained was invaluable in the destruction of the Institute. He led the charge to the CIT Ruins, and in the end, the boogeyman of the Commonwealth was no more. Obliterated, gone to dust.

A year had past, Nathan continued to wander the Commonwealth. Maxson informed him of an op that required the Prydwen and its soldiers to return to DC. He was asked to join them, but Nathan refused.

He requested that he stayed, to watch over the Commonwealth. With the final order, the Brotherhood withdrew from the Commonwealth, to return someday in the future.

The Sole Survivor alone once again in the Commonwealth. Or so he thought.

 _Present_

Ít didn't help his focus when bullet whizzed past his head as he fired a few rounds from Righteous Authority into the group of Raiders that had him cornered. Nathan abandoned his uniform for something more protective. An NCR Ranger stumbled his way into the Commonwealth, to which Nathan had found his body inside of an old bank vault with two other dead men.

The NCR, from what the records the Brotherhood had, were enemies. While he regarded the information with understanding, he took the uniform and made it his own. The Brotherhood insignia adorned on the chest plate and arms.

Returning to his state of mind, he looked to his left to make sure the person he just saved was okay. Black hair, red highlights at the tips... not sure if it's natural or not. Red and black corset with a jacket underneath. A sort of skirt, not sure why she was wearing one, but he didn't judge. Black boots and a red cape... or cloak.

She seemed fine, aside from the bruise that adorned the cheek from the lead pipe that knocked her out awhile ago.

'Fucking hell, I hate raiders...'

 _Ten Minutes Earlier_

Nate was trailing a group of Raiders that were making themselves scarce for an odd reason. The steps they took to keep quiet were... strange... and clever. Most nancies normally ran at you with a crowbar or something.

But not these ones, they found something... and they weren't letting anyone know.

He kept quiet, sneaking past the occasional sleeping ghoul... or what counts as one. Never knew what they did lying on the ground like that. A swift knife stab to the head did the trick.

The group went into a house on the left side of the street, and he soon followed. A silenced 10mm pistol in his hands. Aside from his 412 Rex, the old pistol was going strong. It will continue to prove its worth on these savages.

Creeping into the house, he heard commotion underneath.

'Hiding in the basement, huh? Not a problem...' the thought was thrown aside as he stepped down the stairs. The boots betraying their steroetypes of being loud. No steps were heard going down, giving him the element of surprise.

A lone raider was casually walking around, his first target. Taking out his stealth combat knife, he crept behind the raider, before grabbing him.

Putting a gloved hand around his mouth, he swiftly stabbed the blade though the chest.

One stab.

Two stabs.

He let the raider down gently, to not alert the rest. Grabbing a rug that was there, he covered the body. Most raiders are too stupid to see whats under something. This shouldn't be a problem.

The rest were on the other side of the wall, along with... a girl?

'God damn it...'

Prepping a flashbang, he tossed it into the room. The resulting explosion of light soon followed. Running from behind the wall, he fired the 10mm into the head of the first raider, before grabbing an axe from his hip, and threw it into the other raider.

Firing three more times, each round found their mark in the head of the rest of the nancies.

The girl was unconcious, and was bleeding a little from the cheek. No doubt was hit by something. He looked around till he found a lead pipe in the hands of a dead raider.

'That must of been it... isn't fun being hit with one of those...' the thought vanished as he cut the ropes form her wrists and legs. Picking her up, he noticed something about her.

'She can't be any older than sixteen. Thank God I found her before that could do anything...'

Paying attention to the red block of metal at the table, he walked over to it before reaching out with an open palm. A dim light encompassed the block, adding it to inventory.

He had a feeling it was hers.

"Is someone there?!" the voice came from upstairs. Quickly moving he carried the girl to a small opening in the wall, and hid there in wait. Soon the sound of footsteps came down the stairs. As the raider passed by, Nathan moved silently up the steps.

Luck probably wasn't with him this time, because as he got to the top of the stairs, he stepped on a piece of glass.

The sound of it made the raider run back up the steps, before a 10mm round went through his skull. Brain matter and blood sprayed the wall behind him.

Nate made quick work on getting out of the house and down the street. Bullet passed by him as he looked over his shoulder to see four more raiders were after him. Running and gunning was something he couldn't do.

Another flashbang was tossed, and it allowed him to run a bit farther. An old military checkpoint came into view. One of the barricades was still standing, and it was enough to provide cover for him.

Running behind the barrier, he quickly set the girl down, making sure she didn't hit her head against the barrier. Reaching into his inventory, he pulled out the one weapon he could never let go. Righteous Authority, a gift, given to him by a fellow Brother in arms.

Someone who he'll never see again...

Readying his weapon, he waited for the raiders to turn the corner. A bullet struck his helmet, bounding off, his focus was gone. Hiding back into cover, he listed for the second discharge from whatever gun that fired at him.

Another round was fired, indicating it was in the general direction of the raiders. Scoping the laser rifle, he looked in the only place that was of any use for a sniper. The top of a building.

He found his target atop the building, and fired. All it took was one laser to punch through the raider's head. The body dropped forty feet before hitting the ground with a loud squelch.

The rest of the raiders made themselves know, what with their screams of joy at their prey and the yells and taunts of their way of how they're gonna tear you apart.

'Tch... get a hobby, guys...'

 _Present_

'Welp... guess I'll just end this now.' he thought as he brought out a Nuka Grenade... he primed it and threw it over his shoulders. They may think that it's a regular grenade, but their dives to cover will do them no good.

A brilliant flash of light occurred behind Nate, though he needn't close his eyes.

He waited a bit before looking over the barricade. Nothing but dead raiders. A good day indeed. He sighed, resting against the barrier, before slowly getting up. A grabbed his flask of water from behind him, opened the lid and took a drink of the purified water he had in it.

Others would think that he drank alcohol, but it only let them think. He saw no use in correcting them.

Putting the flask back, he proceeded to pick the girl up again, and made his way to the nearest place he knew, Diamond City.

 _Ten Minutes later_

'The bright side to this is that this place was thankfully close by. Can't imagine how tiring it would be if I was any farther...' Nate thought, walking casually through the market of the city.

Home plate was the closest home he had. While he had multiple ones, this one was closest. He preffered the bunker he found in the Glowing Sea... but that was miles from here.

The door closed with a click, and he made his way up the stairs where he kept his bed. He had no need for it tonight, since he was meaning to do maintenance on his weapons. Setting the girl down on the bed, he put the blanket over her. He took his helmet off and rested it on the shelf above the bed.

It won't be bothered, so why set it elsewhere...

His workbench was thankfully on the other side his home, so the noise shouldn't wake her up. Removing his first weapon, he pumped the shotgun, ejecting its shells. He didn't care for the shell's trip to the ground, since he was going to pick them back up anyway.

'I wonder how long it'll be before she wakes up..' the thought was destroyed by the sheer volume of the scream that originated from the other end of the place.

He sighed.

'Not long, obviously.'

Nathan made his way over to the bed of the now awake girl.

 **Okay, I belive this to be a bit better into than my last attempt. Hopefully it's better. Not to worry, the second chapter is actually being worked one. So hopefully within this week it'll be finished.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two of This Wasteland.**

 **I know Nate is part of the Brotherhood of Steel, but he pretty much wears what he wants. And most of the time, it's the Elite Riot Armor, my favorite mod in the game. I try to figure out what kind of plot I'm going for, and since I have the DLC in Fallout, unfortunately I haven't gone into depth when I played them. I'll probably just have the story play out and see where it takes me.**

 _Why do they always scream?..._ Nate thought before running up the stairs to a screaming girl who was frantically looking around. No doubt she's unfamiliar with her surroundings, and if she keeps screaming like that, the guards are bound to be suspicious. Diamond City guards can go fuck themselves, such hard asses.

Nathan quickly ran to her side, grabbing her shoulders, to which she fought back of course. Throwing punches to his chest and head, which didn't do much. "Hey, calm down! You're safe, those men won't hurt you anymore." he said, in an attempt to calm her down, only for it to cause her to hit harder.

"Stay away! Don't hurt me!" he held onto her shoulders until she soon started to calm down, and break into tears. Sobbing uncontrollably, she gripped his arms, and wept into his shoulder. Patting her back, he held the little girl who no doubt thought she was gonna die.

"It's fine, see? It's just me, you're lucky I found you before they did anything. Raiders are no joke..." he said, he thought back to Shaun, wondering if this is how it would have been if he hadn't been taken from him. A small smile adorned his face.

He pulled back, looking at her. She has silver eyes, strange but unique at the same time. It suits her. "You gonna be okay now? Don't want you screaming again, the guards here are nosy little turds." he chuckled at his little insult, but earned no positive reaction from the girl.

 _Off to a good start_ he thought with a taste of sarcasm to go with it.

Nate moved off the side of the bed, standing up once more. "So... what brings you to the Commonwealth? I've never seen someone like you here, judging from the out of place look to you. I'd say somewhere definitely not from here, or anywhere near." Nate watched her expression go from confusion to sadness.

Concerned, he knelt down to her level. "Is everything okay? If there's a problem, you can tell me." Nate said to her _. Let's start with introduction, might make things smoother..._

"My name's Nathan, what's yours?" he asked.

"..."

"If you're not comfortable yet with it, I understand." he said, knowing it'd be difficult to even gain a name.

"Ruby... my name is Ruby Rose."

"Ruby... that's a lovely name for a lovely young lady." Nate complimented Ruby.

"Now that I know your name, and you know mine, how about we start from the beginning. I will understand if you don't wish to speak, but maybe it'll help with your situation. Like say, if it were possible to get you back home." Nathan said.

Ruby had a look of contemplation, most likely weighing her choices, which is funny to see a fifteen year old girl being in such deep thought. He frowned, now that he thought about it, one her age shouldn't have this air of seriousness.

It's like she has seen horrors of the world and beyond, and at such a young age? It's unlikely that that's the case, but he doesn't know her story. He doesn't know what happened to her.

"I come from Beacon Academy, a school to train students in protecting the world from the darkness, the Grimm. I don't know how I came here, all I know is that I was with my friends during class before a flash of light blinded me. N-next thing I-I knew, I was being t-tied up by these people..."

Ruby started to stutter and cry a bit. Nate knew that part already. He sat next to her, offering his open arms, to which she hugged him, crying into his shoulder again.

'She sure cries a lot, but it doesn't matter. She was taken from her home, everything she knew was gone, and she was about to be raped... Thank God I saved her...' Nate held Ruby until she stopped crying.

"It's alright, you don't have to continue. I know what happened next. I saw it, quite frankly I was in the process of sneaking around them to take those nancies out. Then they hit you with a lead pipe. Not the best way to be knocked out..." Nate said, earning a wince on Ruby's face.

"Look, I'll get you something to drink. What would you like, the selection is not great and probably the best tasting would be Nuka Cola." he said, getting up.

Ruby gave a look of confusion, "What is Nuka Cola? I've never heard of it. Is it a new type of soda?" she asked, to which Nate was thrown off by the question.

 _New? What is she talking about? That stuff's been around since before the war, I should know._

"Not sure what you're talking about, but Nuka Cola's been around since before the war, and that was... around 200 years ago." he said. Ruby looked startled, before she got up. She ran to the door up the stairs.

"Wait! where are you going?!" Nate ran after her, before seeing her slam the door open, taking a look outside.

She stopped moving, looking over the town she found herself in. It was a slum, or at least to her it was one. Shacks, and what looked like a stadium surrounded her.

She choked a bit, obviously overwhelmed by the turn of events and surroundings that she was unfamiliar with.

"Where am I..." she said quietly to herself, but it still was enough for Nate to hear.

"You're in Diamond City... 'The great green jewel of The Commonwealth...' or at least that's what the former mayor said." _Good riddance to that lying bastard_...

"I don't know where that is, I never heard of Diamond City... and to be honest, this place doesn't look like a city..." she said, eyes still pointed forward.

"Tell me about it, I thought the same thing when I first came here." he chuckled, before stopping when she turned to him, a pleading look in her eyes.

Sighing, he walked to the door of his home, "Come on, we'll talk over dinner... or lunch, since it's roughly that time anyway." he said, waiting for her to follow. She didn't at first, before she then followed.

The door shut closed for the day.

 **Crap chapter for a crap story. But after this long, I found the motivation to finish this chapter since most of it was finished anyway. Too much bull crap to deal with. Car issues and money troubles.**


End file.
